1. If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.
2. 10 in, 1 out. In order to have 1 good idea, you need to consume 10.
3. Let it float on by. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about discarding thoughts: if a toxic thought pops into my head, I can immediately discard it. When I told my wife about this, she pointed out that in order to discard something, I first had to possess it. It’s better, she said, to watch the thought from a distance, and let it float on by.
4. The 40% Rule. Jesse Itzler learned the 40% Rule from a Navy SEAL he lived with. “He would say that when your mind is telling you you’re done, you’re really only 40 percent done. And he had a motto: If it doesn’t suck, we don’t do it.”
5. Bore yourself into good ideas. The philosopher Leo Tolstoy said that when our minds are calm, useful thoughts appear. Austin Kleon, in his classic book on creativity, talks about his love for ironing shirts. “It’s so boring. I almost always get good ideas.”
6. When reading a biography, it’s more important to understand the person’s motives, rather than the events.
7. Clean up your desk. I loved this chapter in Discipline is Destiny. We waste so much time scrolling, shuffling, and moving things around just to do simple tasks. “A person who puts up with needless friction will eventually be worn down.” I consider myself to be fairly tidy but I used some of the ideas from the book this month to tidy up even more: I donated a grocery bag of pens and pencils to a local school. I moved extra highlighters, Sharpies, and anything else I rarely use, to the closet. Finally, I cleaned up my writing desk (separate from my work desk), keeping only the bare minimum: a computer, lamp, pen, pencil, planner, and notecards. Another cool idea: use a table as an office desk. Things are more likely to get done when there are no drawers to shove them into.
8. Be content to be thought foolish. This is one of my favorite quotes from Epictetus: “If you wish to improve, be content to be thought foolish or stupid.” Who cares if you don’t know who won last night’s game? Or that you haven’t heard the latest scandal everyone’s talking about? If you wish to acquire wisdom, Epictetus said, you have to be okay with appearing ignorant. Further, you don’t have to have an opinion. Let other people talk and gossip and argue. Your mind will be clear and tranquil, and you’ll have more energy for your own improvement, and your own work.
9. Everyone is doing their best with what they’ve been given. Socrates said that no one does wrong on purpose.The logic, of course, is that people who do wrong are harming themselves, and since people don’t harm themselves on purpose, they don’t do wrong on purpose. I really liked how Ryan Holiday wrote about it: People are doing the best they can with what they’ve been given. They weren’t given your brain, your experiences, your circumstances, your influences. The friend who repeatedly makes destructive choices, the sister who just can’t seem to get it together—surely they wouldn’t act this way if they knew the harm they were causing themselves. They wouldn’t act this way if they could help it. They’re doing their best, as we all are. If they’re open to advice, give it. If they’re not, let them be. Focus on the good in them. There are things that they’re better at than you. Learn from them. Most of all, love them. And be grateful with all your heart for the opportunity to share this beautiful, brief existence with them.
10. Notable books I read this month:How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell, Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday, First We Read, Then We Write by Robert D. Richardson, The Perfect Pass by S.C. Gwynne, How To Be a Bad Emperor by Suetonius